Lucie Rose killed herself days after she changed her will to leave her
£250,000 bungalow to her doctor's daughter

Relations of a grieving widow who committed suicide have demanded an investigation into why she changed her will days before her death to leave her £250,000 bungalow to her GP’s daughter.

Lucie Rose, 87, was found dead at her home 11 days after her husband, John, died of cancer at the age of 86.

She originally left her entire estate to her two surviving sisters, who both live in Germany, but cut them out of her inheritance nine days before she killed herself in November 2010.

There were two main beneficiaries of the new will. One was a financial adviser and the other was 23-year-old Sharnika Pillai, the daughter of Dr Chittaranjan Pillai, 63, who treated Mrs Rose and her husband for many years.

Mrs Rose’s family claim that she was not of sound mind when she signed the new will and are demanding an investigation into how it came to be drawn up.

Her sister, Elke Schmaing, 69, said: “I just want justice, I can’t believe what has happened. This wasn’t like her.”

Dr Pillai’s practice, the Plains View Surgery in Mapperley, Nottinghamshire, is under investigation by NHS England over “medicine management” in connection with Mrs Rose’s death.

File notes from the solicitors who drew up Mrs Rose’s new will show that she wanted to leave her bungalow in Mapperley to Dr Chittaranjan, even though in the end it was bequeathed to his daughter. The document states: “She [Mrs Rose] has decided to leave the property and all its contents and her late husband’s car to her doctor at Plains View Surgery.”

The solicitors’ notes also say that Mrs Rose was of “sound mind” when she signed the new will. However, at the start they recorded her making reference to her sisters in Germany, but by the end she was quoted as saying that she had “no living relatives”.

The inquest into Mrs Rose’s death raised concerns about the handling of the case, including criticism of the police for the “shoddiness” of their investigation and for losing Mrs Rose’s suicide note.

Mairin Casey, the Nottinghamshire coroner, told the hearing: “There may well have been a suggestion that she and perhaps her husband were vulnerable to influence from an outside third party.”

However, the coroner made no finding on this issue and agreed with the professionals, including Dr Pillai, that Mrs Rose was of sound mind when she made the new will.

Plains View Surgery said: “Dr Pillai and the doctors and staff at Plains View Surgery would like to take this opportunity to pass on their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mrs Rose.

“We have engaged fully with the NHS England investigation and given that it has yet to be concluded, together with issues in relation to patient confidentiality, it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further.”

Nottinghamshire Police have apologised to Mrs Rose’s family for losing her suicide note.

The pensioner’s relations are understood to have reached an agreement with the financial adviser.